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Jade and Dragons tried to be a take of revenge in a steampunk-inspired world, but its execution leaves much to be desired. Instead of being action-packed, it¡¯s boring, flat, and often forgets the plot¡¯s purpose.

Aihui Ying, who aspires to be a brilliant engineer like her father, is devastated when she arrives too late to prevent his murder and loses the killer. Determined to find her father¡¯s killer and learn about his past, Ying sneaks into the Engineers Guild, disguised as her brother. As she navigates politics and challenges, Ying must grapple with her quest for revenge and decide if her vengeance is worth the cost.

I did enjoy the slight taste of world-building. Steam-punk-inspired fantasy should be a mainstream genre. Unfortunately (for all the reasons listed below) the world-building is sparse and couldn¡¯t make up for the meandering plot and lackluster characters

Ahui is hard to read about. Her reactions to mundane things or slight offenses are childish and go against the ¡°strong female surviving in a man¡¯s world¡±. I was told she's intelligent, but it¡¯s not shown on the page. Her wit and cleverness are only mentioned and seem implausible when displayed. Her lack of focus on her father¡¯s death is so odd considering it¡¯s supposed to be the overarching plot in the book, yet it¡¯s rarely mentioned and she seems to recover from the trauma completely off-page. I could have handled the lack of focus if the book had Ahui struggling with bigger problems than a crush (more on that later). For example, most of the story is set in the Royal Court and Engineer¡¯s Guild. Yet, she never actively has to fight against gender roles or societal oppression that exist in these environments. Yes, she is disguised as a boy, but the themes are rarely brought up, or at least discussed somewhat thoroughly. It felt like a Disney movie the way societal barriers and sexism are underplayed.

The romance (which took up more page time than the actual plot) was cliche and trope. Ahui seems to find a very feminist Prince despite being raised in an environment where the patriarchy is standard. It¡¯s never explained why he accepts women's empowerment. Their relationship is built on tropes and shallow interactions. The repeated instances where the Ahui ¡°trips¡± and falls into the prince¡¯s arms had me fighting several eye rolls. These moments and other quirky interactions highlighted the lack of anything meaningful between her and the prince, which made the love declarations even more silly.

The pacing suffers due to significant periods passing off which could have been used to build the world, develop characters, or advance the actual plot. Combining this with the problems above makes for an incredibly boring read.

Overall, Jade and Dragons is a book with an intriguing premise undermined by cringey dialogue, shallow character development, and a lack of meaningful engagement with its themes.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.